Tag Archives: world will pay price for failing Somalia

Global leaders have called for urgent action on Somalia, warning that the world will “pay the price” for failing to help the country tackle its political instability, civil war and pirates.

Speaking at the conference in London along with dozen other leaders on Thursday, David Cameron, the British prime minister, said the “problem in Somalia is a complex jigsaw puzzle where every piece has to be put into place. It is all about the patient work of helping the Somali people to re-build their country from bottom-up,” he said.

“If the rest of us just sit back and look on, we will pay a price for doing so.”

The participants at the meeting agreed a representative Somali government should replace the current Transitional Federal Government [TFG] after its term ends in August.

MEETING AGENDA

The humanitarian crisis:Worst famine in 60 years. More than 2.3 million people still dependent on food aid.

Fighting piracy: The waters off Somalia are some of the most dangerous in the world.

Tackling al-Shabab: The group controls large areas of the country and poses a major security threat.

Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, said the “time is ripe to fix Somali’s problems but it must be done by its citizens”.

“For decades, the world has focused on what we could prevent from happening in Somalia – be it conflict, famine, or other disasters. Now we are focused on what we can build. The opportunity is real,” she said.

Discussing Cameron’s speech, Nazanine Moshiri, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Mogadishu, said: “One of the most interesting points that he made was about political solution for Somalia. He made it clear that the end of mandate for TFG is August and it will not be extended. Read more…